World of change for education

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 | 6:47 a.m.

The future of public education in Clark County is now -- and it speaks Mandarin Chinese.

That's the message futurist Ed Barlow had for the Clark County School District at a community workshop Thursday. He painted a vision of a global economy in which 80 percent of today's kindergartners will work at jobs that have yet to be invented.

"Public education was constructed historically when there was a fixed knowledge base you could get by the time you left 12th grade and lasted until you got your gold watch," said Barlow, who has advised numerous companies and governments, including the U.S. Education Department, in developing long-range strategies.

"That world is gone for good."

Educators appear to be listening.

With Barlow serving as a curriculum consultant, a new high school opening in North Las Vegas in 2006 plans to offer Chinese, Spanish and Arabic, said Marsha Irvin, superintendent of the district's northeast region. All three, along with English, are the languages Barlow argues will most likely be useful to students in the 21st century.

"We have to teach children to understand the world around them and train them so they are able to participate in the global community," Irvin said.

Finding teachers for the classes may prove to be a challenge, Irvin acknowledged. School districts in other places, including Chicago, have already begun expanding foreign language programs to include both Chinese and Arabic.

With China's expanding reach and impact on the world economy -- including tourism -- it makes sense for today's students to begin preparing for the employment opportunities that will follow, Barlow said.

"I have nothing against German," said Barlow, as he referred to the School District's lauded program. "But if we're going to learn a language, then I say let's learn a language that adds context value."

Barlow has become a regular visitor to Clark County. In November 2004 he coordinated a daylong community summit to help the School Board assess its priorities and gauge the public's support for various initiatives.

He is now working to help the School District determine whether the curriculum will help prepare students for the job market.

At Thursday's workshop, Barlow warned that the district must turn out students capable of learning new skills and quickly grasping information as technology continues its rapid progression.

If Nevada hopes to diversify its tax base and attract new industries, its public schools must produce students capable of providing the necessary workforce, Barlow said. Otherwise the industries will go where the workers are available, including overseas, he said.

Closer collaboration between Nevada's K-12 and higher education systems will be critical, said Barlow, who noted that he was scheduled to join university system Chancellor Jim Rogers for dinner Thursday.

The Clark County School Board has already moved forward with plans to build as many as six new career and technical education high schools.

Barlow's presentation left Silverado High School junior David Rappaport with plenty to mull over, including his decision to study Spanish.

"We're not being prepared for what we should be," he said. "We need to be thinking 20 years ahead, not about right now. It makes me nervous that a lot of kids don't have a clue what we're going to be up against."

Skip Rappaport, who attended the workshop with his son, said there are plenty of hurdles standing between the School District and Barlow's vision. Topping the list is a state Legislature that meets biennially, drastically slowing down the approval process for a major overhaul of the public education system, Rappaport said.

"That's too much lag time," Rappaport said. "Our state needs to get with it, or we'll be left behind."

It remains to be seen whether the educators and the community they serve decide Barlow's vision is the best course for Clark County.

But even the futurist himself said not all of his predictions may prove accurate.

"I tell my audiences I hope that 80 percent of what I say doesn't happen," Barlow said. "But I haven't told you anything I didn't think was going to happen."

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at emily@lasvegassun.com.